Measuring delivery route cost trade-offs between electric-assist cargo bicycles and delivery trucks in dense urban areas

Abstract

Introduction: Completing urban freight deliveries is increasingly a challenge in congested urban areas, particularly when delivery trucks are required to meet time windows. Depending on the route characteristics, Electric Assist (EA) cargo bicycles may serve as an economically viable alternative to delivery trucks. The purpose of this paper is to compare the delivery route cost trade-offs between box delivery trucks and EA cargo bicycles that have the same route and delivery characteristics, and to explore the question, under what conditions do EA cargo bikes perform at a lower cost than typical delivery trucks? Methods: The independent variables, constant variables, and assumptions used for the cost function comparison model were gathered through data collection and a literature review. A delivery route in Seattle was observed and used as the base case; the same route was then modelled using EA cargo bicycles. Four separate delivery scenarios were modeled to evaluate how the following independent route characteristics would impact delivery route cost-distance between a distribution center (DC) and a neighborhood, number of stops, distance between each stop, and number of parcels per stop. Results: The analysis shows that three of the four modeled route characteristics affect the cost trade-offs between delivery trucks and EA cargo bikes. EA cargo bikes are more cost effective than delivery trucks for deliveries in close proximity to the DC (less than 2 miles for the observed delivery route with 50 parcels per stop and less than 6 miles for the hypothetical delivery route with 10 parcels per stop) and at which there is a high density of residential units and low delivery volumes per stop. Conclusion: Delivery trucks are more cost effective for greater distances from the DC and for large volume deliveries to one stop.

Last-mile delivery concepts: a survey from an operational research perspective

“…Instead, we focus on the routing literature that is specifically dedicated to cargo bikes. Sheth et al (2019) investigate a problem variation without temporary storage in micro-depots and develop analytical functions to estimate and compare routing costs of traditional vans and cargo bikes. Their results indicate that bikes are more cost efficient for deliveries close to the depots, routes with a high density of customers, and low delivery volumes.…”

Urban Freight Last Mile Logistics—Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Sustainability: A Literature Review

“…The driving forces behind the steady growth of urban freight flow include globalization, economic development, population growth, urbanization, densification, and e-commerce and omnichannel (OC) retailing [1][2][3]6,7]. Due to globalization, goods production locations are distributed over large regions or countries.…”

“…During the past two decades, the increase of Internet infrastructure and growth of e-commerce contributed significantly to the increase of urban freight flow both in freight volume and freight traffic [2,5,9]. Hubner et al [10] discussed that online grocery is increasing and will surpass online sales of consumer electronics.…”

“…In urban areas freight flow is growing [1][2][3]. This in turn increases transport related problems such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, congestion, air and noise pollution, traffic accidents, and damage to infrastructure such as road networks [1,4].…”

The future of freight transport

“…Manali Sheth et al [6] analyzed the possibilities of shifting cargo from delivery trucks to electric-assisted cargo bikes in the urban setting. Taking many factors into account, the papers shows in which situations a shift is suitable.…”